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Chelsea 5 Milan 0: Anelka's four-goal haul impresses Scolari
By Rich JonesMonday, 4 August 2008
The Chelsea manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, believes that Nicolas Anelka has finally showed he can be a lethal striker for the London club with a four-goal rampage against Milan in Moscow yesterday.
The cool Frenchman scored two goals in each half as the Blues overwhelmed the Italians 5-0 in the pre-season Railways Cup after Frank Lampard's early opener. A strong Chelsea side, including Michael Ballack for the first time this summer, proved too good for a weakened Milan shorn of the likes of Kaka and Alexandre Pato.
Scolari said that it was the new-found ruthlessness and focus shown by Anelka that pleased him most just two weeks before the start of the Premier League season. "This game was important for Anelka but more important for us – the fans, the coach and the other players who will have more confidence in him," the Brazilian told www.chelseafc.com.
"Today was good not because he scored four goals, but because he played more free and with more quality than in other games. He was playing against a big club and to get four goals against Milan, for his confidence it is fantastic and Anelka today and in the last game played more inside the penalty area than before. That is where I asked him to play and where I need him, not right and left as before, because we have one striker and that is Anelka."
With Didier Drogba getting ever closer to returning to training after a knee injury, Scolari admits he has some tough decisions to make before the meaningful action kicks off against Portsmouth on 17 August.
"Maybe I will receive good news about Drogba and we have 12 days to train and maybe we will have something I don't expect," he said. "I have quality, competitive players and they fight for places on the pitch. I have 22 here, five at home."
Milan's miserable display was typified by some comically inept goalkeeping by Zeljko Kalac. Lampard put Scolari's side ahead in the second minute when his curling free-kick was missed by everyone and the ball flew in through Kalac's legs.
It was two in the eighth minute when Anelka latched on to a poor defensive header to fire home low from the edge of the area. The Frenchman added a third 10 minutes later and completed his hat-trick six minutes after the restart, heading home from a Florent Malouda cross.
It was four for Anelka and five for Chelsea in the 58th minute as another flowing move down the left ended with Malouda centring once more for the former Bolton striker to volley home.
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Anelka hits four as Chelsea thrash AC Milan in Moscow
By Sportsmail Reporter
Kaka might want to reconsider his loyalty to AC Milan after the Italians were hammered by his summer suitors Chelsea in Moscow.
Four goals from a razor-sharp Nicolas Anelka were more than enough to settle the third-place play-off in the Railways Cup pre-season tournament after Frank Lampard opened the scoring.
Milan's Brazilian star did not feature as his team put in a miserable display, typified by some comically inept goalkeeping by Zeljko Kalac.
A strong Chelsea line-up saw Michael Ballack make his first appearance of the Blues' pre-season following his late return to the squad after Euro 2008 duty with Germany.
But it was his central midfield partner Lampard who put Luiz Felipe Scolari's side ahead in the second minute when his curling free-kick was missed by everyone and the ball flew in through Milan keeper Kalac's legs.
It was two in the eighth minute when Anelka latched on to a poor defensive header to fire home low from the edge of the area.
The Frenchman added a third 10 minutes later when Kalac's day went from bad to worse.
Attempting to clear a routine backpass, the Australian kicked nothing but air, allowing Anelka to steal in and tap into an empty net.
Chelsea were utterly dominant and Shaun Wright-Phillips very nearly headed a fourth soon afterwards as they sought to make amends for their shoot-out defeat to Lokomotiv Moscow two days ago.
A Milan side with no recognised strikers, but featuring former Arsenal star Mathieu Flamini in midfield, were providing little resistance and Anelka completed his hat-trick six minutes after the restart.
Deco played in Florent Malouda down the left and the winger's cross found his countryman, who headed accurately into the corner of the net.
Remarkably if was four for Anelka and five for Chelsea in the 58th minute when another flowing move down the left ended with Malouda centring once more for the former Bolton striker to volley home.
The Barclays Premier League runners-up took their foot off the gas in the last quarter but still dominated and the lively Malouda fired narrowly over with a good long-range effort.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Guardian:
Anelka grabs centre stage as Scolari waits on DrogbaFrenchman hits four past Milan as Chelsea win 5-0Injured Ivorian to return for Tottenham fixtureDominic Fifield in Moscow The Guardian, Monday August 4 2008
Luiz Felipe Scolari is resigned to beginning the new campaign with Nicolas Anelka as his only recognised first-team striker with Didier Drogba regaining his fitness as he recovers from a long-standing knee injury.
The Chelsea manager will have drawn encouragement here from Anelka's excellent performance which gleaned four goals in a 5-0 rout of an under-strength Milan in the Railways Cup yesterday. The France international finished as the team's top scorer on their pre-season tour with six goals in five appearances - he had scored only twice in his first six months at the club - and Scolari will lean heavily on the 29-year-old in Drogba's absence.
The Brazilian has been in regular contact with the medical staff at the club's Cobham training base for updates on the Ivorian's fitness. "I speak to the doctor every day and he gives me a report," said Scolari. "Didier's getting better and has started to train on the field. He has a fitness coach there working with him and, next week, I hope he will be ready to start training with us. But he will not be available for the first game.
"It is important that he is fully fit and in good shape. If he plays too soon and is not really ready, it will not be good for him and it will not be good for us. He will only play when he is in good condition again. If not, we risk losing him for longer. You never know when you have problems with your knee but he won't be playing in the first game [against Portsmouth]. He should be back for the third game of the season."
That would most likely see him available for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur to Stamford Bridge on August 31. Drogba's future at the club had appeared in doubt over the summer, with the player having been unsettled last season, but Scolari and the club's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, have since reiterated that the forward would remain in London. Talks have as yet not begun on a potential new contract - Drogba has two years to run on his current deal - though there remains the possibility of him extending his stay.
There was also a return for Michael Ballack at the Lokomotiv stadium yesterday, the German playing his first football of pre-season before being withdrawn at the interval against the Rossoneri, though it was Anelka who caught the eye. The Frenchman was irrepressible, albeit against a porous defence and with the Milan goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac mustering an almost comical performance.
Chelsea led 3-0 after 18 minutes with Anelka adding his third and fourth goals before the hour mark. With Andriy Shevchenko still working on his fitness, Salomon Kalou at the Olympic Games and Franco di Santo just beginning to make his mark, the Frenchman has quickly become key. "It was important for Anelka, but more important for me to help generate more confidence for this player," said Scolari. "He's one of the players that we will look to this season. He played with more quality and freedom and it is fantastic for his confidence to score four times against a team like Milan.
"He believes in himself more and the other players believe in him more. That is the best outcome. He played more in the penalty area than before. I'd asked him to do that because I want him in the middle, not on the left or the right. That is more important at the moment because we have only one striker and that is Anelka."
The reality that he was often employed out wide last term following his £15m arrival from Bolton in January, often with Drogba playing through the middle, contributed to his meagre goal tally since moving to the club. Others provided the width and invention yesterday, the excellent Florent Malouda crossing expertly for the two second-half rewards after Anelka had volleyed his first of the afternoon beyond Kalac following Giuseppe Favalli's inadvertent knock-down.
Chelsea already boasted a lead by then courtesy of Frank Lampard's free-kick which drifted through a clutch of players, flicking off Daniele Bonera and dribbling through the hapless Kalac's legs. The Australian duly air-kicked Marek Jankulovski's back-pass to allow Anelka to tap into an empty net, with Roman Abramovich enjoying the scene from a box up in the Gods of the arena.
Scolari will assess his players over the next fortnight at Cobham before the opening league game against Portsmouth, but admitted he had pencilled in "85% of the team". He could yet add the Real Madrid forward Robinho to his ranks before then with the Brazilian understood to have informed the club's manager, Bernd Schuster, and president, Ramón Calderón, that he wants to swap the Bernabeu for Stamford Bridge.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The TimesAugust 4, 2008
Nicolas Anelka is last striker standing at ChelseaMatt Hughes in Moscow
Luiz Felipe Scolari yesterday revealed that Didier Drogba is likely to miss the first few weeks of the season as he continues his rehabilitation from a knee injury, leaving Chelsea with one fit striker for their opening Barclays Premier League match against Portsmouth. The Brazilian manager may want to wrap Nicolas Anelka in cotton wool for the next 13 days because the France striker is his only option for his first match in English football, with Andriy Shevchenko recovering from a groin operation and Salomon Kalou playing for the Ivory Coast at the Olympic Games.
Scolari would like to have more options to cover Anelka, but it is Drogba who will be most badly missed. The 30-year-old was left behind from the club’s preseason tour after suffering a setback to a knee injury that was operated on last December and has yet to return to full training. Chelsea are hopeful that Drogba will be fit for their third match of the season, against Tottenham Hotspur on August 31, but given his history of knee problems they may choose to keep him back until after the international break at the start of next month.
“I speak to the doctor every day and he gives me a report,” Scolari said.
“Drogba is getting better, starting to run in the field. He has a fitness coach there and I hope next week he will be ready to start training. He will not be available for the first game. It is important he is fully fit and in good shape.
“If he plays without his condition, it’s not good for him and not good for us. When he is in good condition, he will play. If not, we will lose him for longer. He will probably miss the first two games, but by the third game he will be ready if there are no more problems. When you have problems in the knee, you never know.”
Drogba’s injury will give Anelka the opportunity to make good on his pledge to improve on last season’s dismal displays for Chelsea. The 29-year-old scored one league goal after his £15 million move from Bolton Wanderers in January, but has looked sharp in preseason, scoring four goals as Chelsea completed an embarrassingly one-sided 5-0 win over a weakened AC Milan team yesterday. Frank Lampard scored the other.
“I think it was important for Anelka, but more important for us, for the fans and for me, the coach, to have more confidence for this player,” Scolari said. “He’s one of the players that we need this season. I was happy today, not because he scored four goals, but he played with more quality and freedom than in the other games.
That’s important for us because that was our last training match, and against a big club like Milan. It’s fantastic for [Anelka’s] confidence to score four times against Milan. He believes more, and the other players believe in him more.
“In the last few games he has been making more runs through the middle than before. I asked him to do that and I wanted him down the middle, not down the left or the right. That is important because we have one striker, and that is Anelka.”
Scolari confirmed that his plans for the Portsmouth match are nearly complete, with one remaining area of doubt centring on how he can squeeze Lampard, Deco and Michael Ballack into the same midfield.
Scolari could soon have another player to accommodate after Robinho rejected Real Madrid’s offer of an improved contract over the weekend and told the club he wants to move to Stamford Bridge.
“I only know 85 per cent of my team,” Scolari said. “Today I received Ballack for the first time. I need to assess the players at Cobham [Chelsea’s training ground] to get that last 15 per cent, but I have the main team.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------